Author Meg McKinlay’s favorite books evoking awe and wonder
Recently I reached out to author Nell Cross Beckerman, an author who has published a few gorgeous nonfiction books—like Caves and When the Sky Glows—that offer a sense of vastness of the natural world and inspire awe and wonder.
When I asked Nell to recommend some of her favorite books evoking awe, she recommended How to Make a Bird by Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley, a book that left her in a “wondrous daze.”
I also found it to be a beautiful book with visceral poetic prose and detailed ink drawings that together inspire appreciation of beauty and imagination about the world around us. For kids interested in poetry and prose and easily moved by beauty, this may be a favorite picture book.
Meg was kind enough to share some of her own favorite books evoking a sense of wonder and awe. Here are a few of them.
Meg McKinlay is a West Australian children’s writer and poet. She has published twenty books for young readers, ranging from picture books through to novels for young adults.
Meg says: I loved learning about Nell Cross Beckerman's work in her feature post, and immediately added all her books and recommendations to my toppling to-be-read pile. It's been thought-provoking for me to consider which books evoke a sense of awe or wonder in me as a reader; here are a few I've come up with from my shelves.
Written by Claire Saxby
Illustrated by Jess Racklyeft
Published by Allen & Unwin
Meg says: The life-cycle of an iceberg told in stunning lyrical language—no surprises that the author is also a poet!—and perfectly complemented by almost translucent illustrations. I love the way this gently opens layer after layer of the Antarctic landscape, drawing the reader in through a series of small but significant visual and linguistic shifts.
Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan
Published by Allen & Unwin
Meg says: Shaun Tan is the master of revealing the strangeness and unexpected beauty in everyday landscapes. His way of seeing is at once so utterly idiosyncratic and so deeply familiar; it has the effect of making the reader really see things we tend to sleepwalk past, of opening us up to the possibilities in the world around us.
Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan
Published by Lothian Books
Meg says: Because Shaun Tan is the master, I had to include him twice! This is again about strangeness for me, about defamiliarising the quotidien and creatively transforming it. As awe-inspiring as the natural world can be, I find this act of shifting the way we view the everyday, the mundane, more wondrous and beautiful somehow.
Written and Illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch
Published by Gecko Press
Meg says: Is there anything more worthy of wonder and awe than the human condition? The way we live in this life without really understanding it and always alongside an acceptance of the mortality of all things? This book is spare and simple, at once confronting and comforting, and just absolutely perfect.
Thanks, Meg, for sharing your recommendations. For more recommendations on children’s books inspiring an appreciation of beauty and excellence, try these posts:
Sharon Dennis Wyeth on moral beauty, imagination and hope in Tar Beach
Illustrator Nívola Uyá on the book that made her fall in love with life
Nell Cross Beckerman’s favorite children’s books evoking awe
Books for kids that inspire awe and wonder
Find more books related to Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence through the character strength book guide below.
Beauty and excellence can produce awe and wonder, inspire us, and elevate us to act.
Experiencing awe is associated with living a healthy and meaningful life and may increase one’s desire to be a better person. It can also boost other character strengths like gratitude, spirituality and humility.
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